Big BLU Super Computer

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

> On Tue, 2004-08-17 at 11:44, markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
>
>> Does BLU have any sort of permenant system running anyware?  Do you guys
>> have an office or anything?
>>
>> The reason I was wondering is that, I bet we all have some spare
>> computers
>> and stuff lying around, wouldn't it be cool if we could construct
>> something like "Big BLU,"  the BLU beowulf cluster. I bet that would be
>> a
>> fun project. (Think about the "stone soup" super computer.)
>>
>> I've got a couple industrial grade 100MB switches, a spool of CAT5,
>> connectors, crimpers, some computers, and a LOT of spare parts.
>>
>> Is anyone interrested?
>
> No, we don't have any office space. We've got a server at a co-lo
> facility for our mail and web, in a rack we share with a bunch of
> other user groups, and there's barely enough room left for the
> second BLU server I'm building and the Windows server one of the
> other user groups is working on.

Is there a closet in MIT that thy would be willing to donate?

>
> If there's interest in a project like this, the first two things
> needed are a project leader and a donation of space to build and
> operate the cluster, whether that's at a university, a business,
> or in someone's basement.

True enough.
>
> As I recall, two of the folks in our group, Kurt Keville and Kevin
> Gleason, have been working with Beowulf stuff for several years.
> I'd suggest they be involved in some way. Perhaps one of them can
> offer a place to host the project.

I've done a bit of work on Beowulfs myself.

I clearly don't think that there is "no" interrest. The questions now are:

Is it something enough of us want? Are we willing to pay for it?